My record — Chameleon Alien's "Summer Soulstice"
TooMuchBlood
Posts: 312
Hello, all. I finished a record five years ago and found a great site this week that hosts it. Chameleon Alien's "Summer Soulstice" is an 85-plus-minute concept record that I worked on for a few years with some friends. The record blends a lot of styles. Available for free, the track "Golden Mean" seems to be the sleeper track and a good place to start. The entire record can be bought for $5.
Check it out — and thanks: http://chameleonalien.bandcamp.com/albu ... -soulstice
Story:
The word's been out for the past few years that CDs are finished and singles are back. iPod and iTunes and others are radically changing the way we get and listen to music.
We are shuffling. We are creating endless, carefully crafted playlists to suit our every mood. And with our entire collection of songs with us wherever we go, we are constantly skipping tracks and changing which album we’re listening to, searching for that one song that is right for the moment.
We are choosing and choosing. We are grooving to the soundtracks of our lives, which we invented last week, yesterday or are thinking up right now as we’re walking down a street.
But we are losing the innocence and spontaneousness that allows a song cycle — when absorbed in a sitting like a fine steak and merlot — to set off sparks inside us and get us feeling and thinking and not just reacting to a moment. So the question has to be asked: Is the concept album going to last much longer in our push-button society?
"Summer Soulstice," the 17-song debut of the Philadelphia group Chameleon Alien, is proof that plenty of ground remains to be broken in the landscape of concept albums. A home-recording project from Mike Fondi and Brian Rossiter — with the help of a few friends — "Summer Soulstice" challenges listeners to drop their guards and eyelids and float away on an 85-plus-minute cinematic journey.
"Summer Soulstice" traces the story of a character who turns his back on the robotlike makeup of the modern world and reaches inside and to his past to find out how and when he lost his sense of identity. In his mission to rediscover himself, the character confronts loss, regret, depression, confusion, alienation and fear. The character emerges triumphant from heady waters, even if unsure where his next step will take him.
The colors of Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and many other artists are woven into the fabric of "Summer Soulstice," which careens from acoustic and electric rock to piano- and strings-driven pieces and even to a techno and a beats-oriented track. The result is nothing short of engaging, and "Summer Soulstice" is among the most cohesive song cycles ever recorded that blends so many music influences.
A do-it-yourself group, Fondi and Rossiter wrote, recorded, engineered, mixed and produced "Summer Soulstice," beginning just days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Four friends contributed, adding bass work, guitar leads and accompanying vocals to several songs. Earle Holder of Atlanta-based HDQTRZ Digital Studios mastered the album, completed in April 2005.
The genesis of "Summer Soulstice" came in spring 1997, when Rossiter wrote the lyrics for the first track to make it on the album, "Conversation Piece." As he learned guitar in college, Rossiter composed the lyrics for and rhythm backbone of several songs. Teaming with longtime friend Fondi, Rossiter sang over a bank of guitar parts Fondi had worked up. The songwriting process was speedy and dynamic — almost instinctual. The duo fleshed out songs with soaring melodies and experimental flourishes.
Chameleon Alien is pleased to present "Summer Soulstice." Plug in your headphones and drop your guards and eyelids. Take it in like a breath of fresh air and hold it. Hold on to the innocence of letting something capture you.
Yours,
Chameleon Alien
Check it out — and thanks: http://chameleonalien.bandcamp.com/albu ... -soulstice
Story:
The word's been out for the past few years that CDs are finished and singles are back. iPod and iTunes and others are radically changing the way we get and listen to music.
We are shuffling. We are creating endless, carefully crafted playlists to suit our every mood. And with our entire collection of songs with us wherever we go, we are constantly skipping tracks and changing which album we’re listening to, searching for that one song that is right for the moment.
We are choosing and choosing. We are grooving to the soundtracks of our lives, which we invented last week, yesterday or are thinking up right now as we’re walking down a street.
But we are losing the innocence and spontaneousness that allows a song cycle — when absorbed in a sitting like a fine steak and merlot — to set off sparks inside us and get us feeling and thinking and not just reacting to a moment. So the question has to be asked: Is the concept album going to last much longer in our push-button society?
"Summer Soulstice," the 17-song debut of the Philadelphia group Chameleon Alien, is proof that plenty of ground remains to be broken in the landscape of concept albums. A home-recording project from Mike Fondi and Brian Rossiter — with the help of a few friends — "Summer Soulstice" challenges listeners to drop their guards and eyelids and float away on an 85-plus-minute cinematic journey.
"Summer Soulstice" traces the story of a character who turns his back on the robotlike makeup of the modern world and reaches inside and to his past to find out how and when he lost his sense of identity. In his mission to rediscover himself, the character confronts loss, regret, depression, confusion, alienation and fear. The character emerges triumphant from heady waters, even if unsure where his next step will take him.
The colors of Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and many other artists are woven into the fabric of "Summer Soulstice," which careens from acoustic and electric rock to piano- and strings-driven pieces and even to a techno and a beats-oriented track. The result is nothing short of engaging, and "Summer Soulstice" is among the most cohesive song cycles ever recorded that blends so many music influences.
A do-it-yourself group, Fondi and Rossiter wrote, recorded, engineered, mixed and produced "Summer Soulstice," beginning just days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Four friends contributed, adding bass work, guitar leads and accompanying vocals to several songs. Earle Holder of Atlanta-based HDQTRZ Digital Studios mastered the album, completed in April 2005.
The genesis of "Summer Soulstice" came in spring 1997, when Rossiter wrote the lyrics for the first track to make it on the album, "Conversation Piece." As he learned guitar in college, Rossiter composed the lyrics for and rhythm backbone of several songs. Teaming with longtime friend Fondi, Rossiter sang over a bank of guitar parts Fondi had worked up. The songwriting process was speedy and dynamic — almost instinctual. The duo fleshed out songs with soaring melodies and experimental flourishes.
Chameleon Alien is pleased to present "Summer Soulstice." Plug in your headphones and drop your guards and eyelids. Take it in like a breath of fresh air and hold it. Hold on to the innocence of letting something capture you.
Yours,
Chameleon Alien
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